Beyond eighteen months Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has thrown an inch ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. With the aim of countering the threat of BJP and Congress, the announcement of abolition of contract labor system in the state is almost certain to lead to a big push for the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), according to political observers. Naveen Patnaik’s decision taken a year and a half before the elections is aimed at easily overcoming the BJP’s resistance. Another objective is to prevent the return of Congress. Although there is an allegation that the announcement of the cancellation of contract appointments was premature, the Chief Minister made an effort to understand the people’s minds by announcing during the by-elections in Dham Nagar. Naveen Patnaik is working with Brahmastra to get rid of BJP and BJD rebels. There is no doubt that the BJD termed as a golden moment in Odisha’s history, the announcement to abolish the contract labor system is to overcome the challenges in the Dham Nagar by-election. When all the major political parties were active in the campaign, the Chief Minister’s new announcement came to everyone’s surprise. He permanently abolished the contract system of employment in the state and fixed the existing 57,000 contract workers ‘at once’.
